I need to poo

[Maz91]

Hi guys. I'm 10 wks and on my gawd the constipation is REAL. I was in A&E over the weekend for dehydration due to hyperemesis and am now on anti sickness pills which seem to be doing their job...but I haven't pooped properly in over 2 weeks :'(
Sorry to be graphic...I will sit on the loo for AGES only to release a teeny tiny pellet of goat poo. I am fed up. And more so I am worried! If I'm no longer throwing up and I'm not pooping, where is my food going to go??? I can literally feel a poo baby in my belly. I've tried all the usual advice- fibre, chia seeds, water.
I've spoken with my pharmacist who basically said nothing is safe to use except lactulose...but after 2 weeks I feel I need something more drastic. I'm very tempted to use glycerin suppositories..anyone used them in the first trimester?

Please help!

I was like this and I found eating a whole tin of peaches did the trick!!
But you should try the lactulose and see how you get on?

Laxatea tea from Holland and Barrett. It's senna tea.

I recently had surgery and was on a lot of codeine and laxtulose, dulcolax and sennakot did nothing.

The herbal tea was amazing, I shat out a weeks worth of poo in about 3 hours. It was glorious.

I was seriously constipated during my first pregnancy. During the second I took a spoonful of black strap molasses diluted in a small amount of warm water every day and it was like a miracle cure. The taste is not good to start with but you get used to it, just make sure to do it every day and you shouldn't have any more problems. It's the by product of sugar and completely safe in pregnancy, you can get it in Holland and Barratt or most health stores.

I had this due to hyperemesis and would take like 45mins just to pass as you say a very small amount and it hurt so much. I was lucky to pass one stool a week. No amount of lactulose worked. I found the food I was managing which is really little must have been feeding the baby. The only thing that stopped it was stopping the medication which I did at 28 weeks and my poos returned to normal. Try and get off ondansatron as soon as you can if that's what your taking as that's what caused all my issues. I was on metoclopromide as well which I stuck with longer as it hasnt given me constipation.

You may be too stuck but I recently read a tip for constipated children that said to get them to blow bubbles while sitting on the loo. Blowing bubbles activates the arse muscles you need and i was amazed how well it works if you relax and take your time with your feet up on a stool as well.

Thanks guys. @abbs1 I'm on ondansatron but I really can't manage without it. Also this might sound strange but I wonder if being constipated makes the sickness worse because my digestive system is so clogged up?

Nothing to add, just sympathy. It’s awful.

If you have impacted stool trying to escape, oral things won’t make much difference. You need something like glycerine suppositories and then something like lactulose to keep things moving. I used both throughout pregnancy and had to use bisacodyl as well. If you’re concerned talk to your midwife or GP first. Glycerine suppositories are life savers (I’m on morphine and they’ve saved me many times) but you may find you can’t hold them in long and have to use several before you clear what’s there. Depending when you last went it might be quite hard to pass what’s there. If you’re in pain, a warm bath while the suppository works can really help.

Lots of water too especially if you start taking lactulose

All bran (not bran flakes the proper stuff) and fresh orange juice with bits. Sorted my constipation when I was pregnant and having to take iron supplements.

Lactulose is the work of the devil. It didn’t help, just gave me the most revoltingly noxious gas

Also, I would consider ordering a squatty potty to use through your pregnancy (they really helped) or at least put your feet on something (yellow pages, upturned Washing up basin etc). Unfortunately I have a lot of specialist knowledge in this area 😂

Glug a glug of olive oil.

Tin of prunes.

I hope you clear soon, do you have something to prop your feet up with when you are sat on the loo?

All the best with your pregnancy.

I had this the other week and came on here in complete distress !! I ended up having weatabix warm , fresh orange juice , and squatting on the toilet . It was agony but eventually came out and I’m back to normal now but I did have to manipulate the poo out of my bottom as it was all dried out and fresh poo was getting stuck on top of it . Oh also Vaseline on your bottom to lubricator it . Good luck and also congratulations on your pregnancy xx

@SinkGirl yes this is what I was thinking. Anything oral will take ages to work at this point IF it works. I think if I can use the suppository and get rid of it once and for all I can then use oral stuff to keep things flowing.

OP lots of water and Lactulose; I'm having to take that myself at the minute as 13 weeks and same issue, but it works a treat. You can get it at any pharmacy and isn't expensive x

@SinkGirl I've tried the squatty potty! I'm too far gone even for that hahaha. I've always used a foot stool in the loo. Constipation has been the bane of my life

I was like this. I forced myself to eat a whole honeydew melon in one sitting as dried fruit etc wasn't helping. Problem resolved itself about an hour later

@Maz91 I couldn't survive without ondansatron and I was being given it iv while in hospital which I was there multiple times and pill form for at home. When you can just try to eat apples and clementines when you feel better and vegetables or salad. I could only stomach them from like 6 months onwards but it did help. If you can manage on ondansatron once a day and ask for metoclopromide for the other doses that may help once the nausea starts to ease off. At its worst I was on 3 ondansatron and 3 metoclopromide but then cut the ondansatron to lunchtime and metoclopromide in the morning and at night to try to help my bowels.
If you're really struggling maybe seek steroids. I was on them for 6 weeks and it helped me so much.

Oh yeah, at this point it won’t work on its own! Hope you clear it soon. I once went 10 days without going after a surgery and it was truly horrific.

Olive oil works fairly fast if you can take a small spoonful and not leave the house.

Or Micralax enema, small syringe of gloop which softens and helps it to move along.

So I didn't know you couldn't use glycerin suppositories so I used them throughout my pregnancy, and it was the only thing that worked. My baby is now 8 weeks old and everything was fine so I dunno 🤷🏻‍♀️

17 weeks here and struggled hugely. Now I'm back to once a day/every two days. Whats working for me........Loads of water, 2-3litres a day . A couple of glasses of prune juice a day () 4/5 pieces of fruit (kiwi/oranges/pears I'm finding great) and putting my feet up on a lidded bathroom bin so I'm sort of squatting.... it's no fun...

Ondansetron is also very constipating, so although it will help the vomiting, it will make the other end worse!

I used fybogel and glycerine suppositories (as well and all the fruit and fluids I could keep down!). After one suppository every day for 3 days, the fybogel and fruit kept me regular again.

Such relief. I am never letting myself get that constipated again, it was awful!!

High dose magnesium supplement! Magnesium Carbonate, Magnesium Oxide or Magnesium Citrate...there are some brands that combine more than one. These work as a stool softener and I found them lot more gentle on the guts than lactulose. For some reason magnesium is not widely known or used as a laxative in pregnancy...I only found out when I ended up in hospital at 32weeks because I thought my waters broke as a result of straining too hard to poo! The doctor who checked me prescribed high dose magnesium and said there are virtually no side effects, if anything it could actually improve pregnancy nerve symptoms like leg cramps and carpal tunnel.

Magnesium was also a lifesaver after my csection. Funnily enough everyone tells you how horrifying the first post-birth poo but I found it was the most satisfying event ever (loool tmi). After 9 months of the most horrendous constipation, being able to poo without a baby squashing your guts was heaven! It's hard straining with stitches so the magnesium really kept everything soft enough to manage.

Lactulose and Baked Beans over here!

Definitely give the lactulose a try. I was constipated after giving birth to my son and they’d sent me home with lactulose and it worked so quickly! I wouldn’t risk taking something that hasn’t been advised by the pharmacist but if the lactulose doesn’t help then I’d get a doctors appointment as they will be able to prescribe something else. I hope things get moving soon for you!